San Juan Mountains, Colorado

[RAT]

13,200 ft above sea level (the MJR crew was dizzier than usual)

poughkipsee043 by MJR RAT, on Flickr


poughkipsee041 by MJR RAT, on Flickr


poughkipsee039 by MJR RAT, on Flickr


poughkipsee036 by MJR RAT, on Flickr

We spent most of our time above 11,000 feet

poughkipsee032 by MJR RAT, on Flickr

More melt lakes

poughkipsee029 by MJR RAT, on Flickr

Fearless Deer, I was less than 20 feet from her. She stood there while I took pictures and drove right by

poughkipsee026 by MJR RAT, on Flickr

The picture doesn't do this waterfall justice. It is stunning!

poughkipsee021 by MJR RAT, on Flickr


poughkipsee018 by MJR RAT, on Flickr

What is she pointing at??? Oh yeah...

poughkipsee014 by MJR RAT, on Flickr

[RAT]

I want to live in Colorado. A diesel Jeep. No referees, no smog tests, just drop in what ya want and go wheeling. This thing sounds so freaking cool...

poughkipsee011 by MJR RAT, on Flickr


poughkipsee009 by MJR RAT, on Flickr


poughkipsee006 by MJR RAT, on Flickr


poughkipsee005 by MJR RAT, on Flickr

[RAT]

On the way home we stopped at Mesa Verde, Four Corners, and drove the Mother Road from Seligman to Needles.


trip home004 by MJR RAT, on Flickr

Fossils. Horse maybe?

trip home006 by MJR RAT, on Flickr


trip home010 by MJR RAT, on Flickr

New Lens (I need to practice with this one...)

trip home033 by MJR RAT, on Flickr


trip home039 by MJR RAT, on Flickr

Thats Mike and Sharon right in the middle of the picture. Taken from about a half mile away.

trip home055 by MJR RAT, on Flickr

My new tow truck

trip home073 by MJR RAT, on Flickr

Four Corners

trip home074 by MJR RAT, on Flickr

Sergio

trip home075 by MJR RAT, on Flickr

This says it all... May she fly free forever.

trip home089 by MJR RAT, on Flickr

[FishPOET]

Black Bear Pass ends in Telluride and Imogene Pass starts in Telluride. It it makes a logical loop bringing us back over the mountains.

The climb up out of Telluride on Imogene Pass has a great view of the switchbacks that we just came down on Black Bear Pass.


We had lunch at the Tomboy townsite. This place was massive back in the day.


Tomboy Bank vault


Imogene Pass 13,114'


Tailing pile leading to Hidden Treasure Mine

Hidden Treasure Mine


Quick lets tie them to the tracks and hope for a train


Imogene Creek crossing


Heading down towards Camp Bird


Between camp Bird and Yankee Boy Basin


More Imogene Pass photos can be seen here.

To be continued...

[FishPOET]

Nice smile Randy

[FishPOET]

Imogene Pass ends at the junction of CR361 and Yankee Boy Basin. We turned left and took Yankee Boy Basin

Revenue Mine


Sneffels Waterfall - "They" say this is the waterfall found on Coors beer.


Pinnacles


Lots of groundcover


Lake at the top


On the way back down CR361 to Ouray is this overhang


More Yankee Boy Basin photos can be seen here

To be continued...

[FishPOET]

On Wednesday August 8 the first trail we ran was Stony Pass

On the way up the northwestern slope.


At the top.


Stony Pass marks the Continental Divide.

On the way down the southeastern slope.


The headwaters of the Rio Grande


After viewing the headwaters of the Rio Grande we turned back around and headed back up to Stony Pass and back over.

More Stony Pass photos can be seen here

To be continued...

[FishPOET]

After Stony Pass we headed back down and made a right turn and headed up Rocky Gulch to Buffalo Boy Mine.

Rocky Gulch


Buffalo Boy Mine Tram Station


Buffalo Boy Mine Tram Station


Tram towers


More Rocky Gulch and Buffalo Boy Mine photos can be seen here

To be continued...

[FishPOET]

After finishing Rocky Gulch and Buffalo Boy Mine we headed into Silverton and had Lunch. We boarded the 2:45pm train for a ride down to Durango.



Margaritas were on sale


The train follows the Animas River crossing it a few times along the way.







We stopped at the Tacoma stop and the conductor announced that the steam pump that powers the air compressor for the brakes had failed. They let us off the train while they worked on the problem.



Another train came by about 1/2 hour after we had stopped and it stopped as well on the track next to us. They disconnected the engines from both sets of cars. They switched the other engine to our track and connected it to our engine and pulled our engine to a 3rd side track.



They disconnected our engine and left it on the 3rd track. The other engine reconnected to its original set of cars and pulled forward. They then backed up and connected to our set of cars.

It took about an hour to get all the switching done but we didn't care. We were enjoying the Animas River and all the action on the tracks. It added so much to the experience!

Not much farther down the train winds its way down through the Animas Gorge. Simply amazing!





We had originally had enough time between the train and the bus back up to Silverton to eat dinner in Durango. The conductor let us know that the bus was being held for us but we would only have a 5 minute window to board. We got permission to eat on the bus and we ordered take-out from Ts Smokehouse which is only 1 block form the station. (I love the internet). We picked up 5 boxes of food (our group was 15) and boarded the bus. Some of the other passengers on the bus were not happy with us at all

This was my second trip on the train and it was even better than the first trip. We had a great time!

To be continued...

[RAT]

Yep, I have to say the train ride was a blast! And definitely, KUDOS to Russ for going above and beyond. He probably thinks its just another day in the life, but it was really appreciated. Thanks again Russ.
Also, T's Smokehouse rocks! They put up with us calling every five minutes, changing plans, and had our food hot and ready to go when we got there. Can't say enough about them, Russ, the conductor who called the bus and got us permission to eat on the bus, for Doug setting it all up. So many things came together that day to make it a unique experience. And to all the angry bus passengers who didnt get to eat, Opps, ya'all had cell phones and saw what we were doing. Your loss... We even offered up the extra food we had, but no takers. Sheesh.

[530ktm]

Wow, I don't drop in here very often but this was an incredible thread with some of the best pictures I have ever seen. What a great road trip through some beautiful country. Makes me want to get out of this state more often.

[FishPOET]

Thursday August 9 we ran 4 trails. The first trail of the day was Ophir Pass

The view looking West before reaching the pass.


11,789'


Looking West after the pass.


Before we reached the town of Ophir we went through a thick stand of Quaking Aspens


More Ophir Pass photos can be seen here

To be continued...

[FishPOET]

After Ophir Pass we took CO145 North a few miles to the turn off for Alta Lakes

The trail passes the ghost town of Alta


Alta Lakes is comprised of 3 different lakes all above 11,000'






More Alta Lakes photos can be seen here

To be continued...

[FishPOET]

A short but very scenic spur off the Alta Lakes Trail is the Gold King Basin Trail.









To be continued...

[FishPOET]

After Gold King Basin we made our way back down to CO145 and then North over to the western edge of Telluride. We took Airport Road almost to the airport to find our last trail of the day Last Dollar Road

The rain was coming down hard on the way out of town but let up after a few minutes.

Heading up in the Quaking Aspens


Lunch stop. We could see rain all around us but we were in the eye of the storm. After 1/2 hour the lighting and thunder started and it turned out to be quite a show.




In the Quaking Aspens and mud puddles after lunch.


Last Dollar Ranch


More Last Dollar Road photos can be seen here

The quote of the day "We started the day on the Million Dollar Highway and ended on Last Dollar Road"

To be continued...